A Glorious Enterprise

Photographs from a book of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences’ collection depict the making of American science.

Cleared and stained specimens of youg horse-eye jacks (Caranx latus) from Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. ANSP Ichthyology Department. This is a species that was first described by Academy member Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) in 1831.

Photo: Photography by Rosamond Purcell

A GLORIOUS ENTERPRISE

Photographs from a book of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences’ collection depict the making of American science.

Photographs from a book of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences’ collection depict the making of American science.

Coconut crabs (Birgus latro) collected on Flint Island (an uninhabited coral atoll four hundred nautical miles northwest of Tahiti in the Central Pacific) by C.D. Voy in 1875. ANSP General Invertebrates Collection. The specimens were donated to the Academy by Annie P. Cope in 1901.

Photo: Photography by Rosamond Purcell

A GLORIOUS ENTERPRISE

Photographs from a book of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences’ collection depict the making of American science.

Mounted Ruby-Cheeked Sunbird. Duc de Rivoli collection. Given to the Academy by T.B. Wilson in 1846. ANSP Exhibits Department.

Photo: Photography by Rosamond Purcell

A GLORIOUS ENTERPRISE

Photographs from a book of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences’ collection depict the making of American science.

A collection of slime molds (Myxomycetes) assembled by George A. Rex in the late nineteenth century. ANSP Botany Department.

Photo: Photography by Rosamond Purcell

A GLORIOUS ENTERPRISE

Photographs from a book of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences’ collection depict the making of American science.

“Leaf insects” (a lineage of tropical walking sticks). These remarkable Phasmida are found in rainforest canopies of tropical Asia. Included in this group are some newly described specimens from the Philippines. The other are from New Guinea and the Seychelles. ANSP Entomology Department.

Photo: Photography by Rosamond Purcell

A GLORIOUS ENTERPRISE

Photographs from a book of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences’ collection depict the making of American science.